Visitors bureau to release Lancaster convention center report

The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau has set a release date for its report on the Lancaster County Convention Center.

The public is invited to a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the convention center, bureau President and CEO Chris Barrett said in a statement. There, the bureau will present the findings of its convention center task force and recommendations for action endorsed by the bureau's board.

The convention center has $64 million in bond debt, and its share of the county hotel tax has proved insufficient to cover its debt service, raising serious concerns about its financial future. CS&L principal John Kaatz, lead author of the firm's study, recommended raising the hotel tax to meet the center's near-term obligations and finding other sources of revenue, such as a restaurant tax or county sales tax, to offset the center's deficits permanently.

County hoteliers have said they oppose a further increase in the hotel tax to support the center, which they say has not benefited them.